The Restoration of Time
by Dr. Amelia Donna
Summary: Set in the Contrary universe. The story of how Voyager got home, and how J/C came to be.
1. Intro

"Always."

The word rang throughout his mind. He turned over, an ice planet. They were on an ice planet. "Looks like they hit the ice at full impulse," he heard himself say. Suddenly, he stood over the frozen body of Kathryn Janeway.

The image was jarring, and his heart began to race. 'Kathryn, no!' He turned to find himself on the Delta flyer looking at an older version of himself and Harry, who was speaking to the EMH. "...I miscalculated the Slipstream threshold and transmitted the wrong phase corrections to Voyager. Boom! They were knocked out of the Slipstream and sent to an icy death."

His eyes opened wide and he sat up in his bed trying to calm himself, but it wouldn't come. He knew one thing: they couldn't go through with the Slipstream jump.

He stood at her door and waited for it open. When it did, he looked at her and said, "We can't do this."


	2. Chapter 1

Kathryn rolled over in bed sleepyily when she heard the door chime. She had to wonder why someone would be at her door now, it had to be at least 0300. She climbed out of her bed and pulled her robe on.

She was actually thankful for unexpected, early morning wake up call. Anything rid her of the images from her dreams that were now seared into her mind. She shuddered, and tied her robe shut before opening the door.

She didn't know who to expect on the other side of the door, but she hadn't been expecting Chakotay in his own pajamas with slight bedhead. He looked a bit perturbed himself.

"We can't do this," he said. She moved aside and motioned for him to come in. "I know I said was with you," he said, "but we just can't do this."

"Why?" she asked, "What changed your mind?"

He sighed and rubbed his ear, "It's silly. It's just, I had this dream about what would happen if we went through with it. It wasn't good, and now I just can't shake the feeling that something bad will happen if we go through with the Slipstream jump. It's a gut feeling. Something WILL go wrong."

She exhaled and sat on the couch, "Okay, we'll call it off."

Chakotay stared at her. This was Kathryn, right? She hadn't been possessed by some alien or something, had she? "That's it? You're, you're not going to argue?"

"I wish I could, Chakotay, but I had a dream myself, and I've got the same feeling. Something's not right."

"What are we going to do now?"

"We didn't spend all that time and energy to build the Slipstream drive and then not use it. We're going to figure out what's wrong and fix it."

"I think, maybe," he said, "we should start by checking Harry's calculations."

"Why?"

"Something I saw in my dream," he answered.

An hour later, they sat in the holodeck in silence. Kathryn's head rested in her hands, and Chakotay's chin rested in his own palm.

"The calculations are wrong. Voyager would be thrown out of the Slipstream," Kathryn murmured.

"Yeah, how are we going to tell Harry? He's going to feel horrible about this."

"We'll just have to tell him. We don't have time not to. No one besides the Senior Staff needs to know why exactly the jump is being called off, all they need to know is that a technical malfunction was detected."

Harry looked over the calculations for what had to be the hundredth time. How could he have been wrong? He'd gone over everything with a fine tooth comb. At least, he thought he had. The very notion that this mistake could've cost them Voyager made him feel sick to his stomach.

Tom had been right. They'd built an Edsel. His eagerness to get home had caused him to make a potentially deadly mistake. How would he have been able to live with himself if they'd gone through with the jump? He knew the honest truth was he wouldn't have been able to. He would've spent every waking hour trying to undo his mistake. He knew that given the chance to go home or stay in the Delta Quadrant at the expense of Voyager, his choice would've been to stay on Voyager.

He'd been hesitant to take the Captain up on her suggestion that he work in tandem with Seven to make corrections. But Seven was smart, maybe she'd see something he didn't.

Unfortunately, it had been nearly a month and half since then, and neither he, nor Seven had had much success. But the irony of ironies was that a week later, they had their answer, and that answer was the result of an accident.

A/N: I'm back, Jack! Hehehehe, sorry, I've been M.I.A. I've had some health problems and wasn't quite in the right frame of mind for writing a story. But it did give me some time to think of ideas for where to take this story. I'm going to try to post at least one chapter a day as I did with A Series of Events. I can't necessarily guarantee that because some days may depend on whether it's a good day for me. Either way, I hope you enjoy the story. I love to get reviews, so by all means feel free. Thanks for reading. :) ~Dr. Amelia Donna


	3. Chapter 2

Seven stepped out of her alcove and made her way to the bridge, where the Commander greeted her, "Good morning."

"That remains to be seen," she answered.

"Problem?"

"The proximity transceiver in my cranial implant has been activated. That could indicate a Borg presence nearby."

Chakotay turned to Harry, "Harry?"

"I've been running sensor sweeps all night. I haven't seen anything," he replied.

"Perhaps the nebula is masking a vessel," Seven suggested.

"No, not a chance," Harry said confidently, "a ship wouldn't last ten seconds in there. Not even a Borg cube."

Chakotay looked to Seven, "Maybe it's a false alarm. Your transceiver could be malfunctioning."

"It is possible," she conceded.

"Why don't you pay a visit to Sickbay? In the meantime we'll redouble our scans, just to be sure," Chakotay assured her.

"Very well."

Standing in sickbay, she waited while the Doctor scanned her transceiver. But just as before, her transceiver activated, and seconds later so did the red alert.

Chakotay commed her, informing her that Borg had been detected in the science lab. She left the concerned Doctor. The science lab was where his mobile emitter had been taken for repairs after the accident the night before.

Seven along with Tuvok and his security team entered the lab to a curious sight. Certainly not what she would've expected. Ensign Mulchaey lay on the floor, and she was quick to realize that a tissue sample had been extracted from the young man, and he was otherwise unharmed.

However, it didn't make sense. She looked again the glowing green chamber that now occupied the room. It resembled a maturation chamber, but the technology was unfamiliar.

Approaching it, she opened an iris to see into the chamber. Inside was a drone in its fetal stages.

She had noted that the residual nanoprobes on Mulchaey matched her own. That didn't make sense, until she thought about the incident the night before.

Her own molecular patterns had begun to merge with the Doctor's during an emergency transport. His mobile emitter had been infected, and the nanoprobes worked with what they were given. Unfortunately, this now meant there was a Borg in the making on Voyager that was comprised of 29th century technology.

The drone was maturing rapidly. By the time Seven had finished assessing what it's abilities would be, ensured it would be unable to contact the Collective, and reported to the Captain, she estimated that the done would be fully matured in two hours. The question was, what would they do with it now?

The Captain expressed a desire to allow the drone to mature. Seven was wary of this, but where Seven saw danger, the Captain was seeing a potential ally. The Captain was reluctant to terminate the drone if they make him an ally, and not only an ally, but an individual.

He was not linked to the Collective, and would therefore, be in essence, a blank slate. They had managed to free Seven from the Collective, and help her regain her individuality. Why should the be unable to do so again for this drone?

Although reluctant, Seven agreed to work with the drone in achieving individuality.

Her initial attempt to communicate with the drone did not go particularly well. The drone did not understand what Seven was telling him. To make him understand, she would have to interface with him.

However, once he understood, he had begun probing her neural pathways to assimilate her knowledge. It was painful, and she could not terminate the link. But surprisingly, when she had told the drone he was hurting her, the drone willingly disconnected the link.

The drone's response was unprecedented, and although her had still throbbed, she had to admit it was a promising turn of events.

Over the next couple days, Neelix helped compile information on datanodes for the drone to assimilate. His childlike wonderment when he assimilated the first node had been endearing to watch.

He had even asked for a designation after some encouragement from Neelix. Seven thought for a moment before telling him, "You are unique. You are the only one like you. Your designation is One."

Later that day, she had taken One to meet the Captain.

The Captain smiled, "You've made excellent progress, One. Lieutenant Torres even told me you helped calculate the expansion of the protonebula."

"I utilized a multispatial algorithm to accurately predict the rate of expansion."

The Captain rubbed her chin with her fingers and did from her chair.

"I wonder then," she began, "Seven and Ensign Kim have been working on calculating the correct phase variance to perform a slipstream jump. It's proven to be quite a challenge. Perhaps you could assist them."

"I will comply," he answered.

The Captain looked to Seven who nodded, "Ensign Kim is on the bridge. Accompany him to astrometrics. I will join you shortly."

After One left, Seven revealed to the Captain that he becoming evermore curiouser about the Borg.

The Captain sighed, "I understand your concern, Seven, but I'd rather he find out about them from us, than from them."

Seven was still apprehensive, and seeing this, the Captain said, "We don't have to tell him right away. But, it can't be kept from him forever. He has the right to know. For now, work on the slipstream calculations, then we'll answer his questions."

Seven sighed, "Understood."

A/N: This chapter is taken from the episode Drone. Technically it happens before the events of Timeless, but this is AU, and the circumstances of the transporter accident could've happened anytime after Seven joined Voyager. So for the sake of story telling, it's happening after Timeless in this story. Also, I meant to get this chapter up yesterday, but I guess there was glitch in the website since nobody seemed to be able to upload to Doc Manager.


	4. Chapter 3

With One's assistance, they were able to complete the slipstream calculations in three days.

"Amazing," Harry said while reviewing the calculations, "this might've taken years to calculate accurately without you, One."

They confirmed the results on the holodeck, and reported them to the Captain, after which Seven decided it would be best to regenerate.

On the bridge, Kathryn had given command over to Chakotay while she worked on a report to Starfleet.

Chakotay sat in his chair musing over what he would do when they got home. They could very well be home by this time tomorrow, and the first thing he intended to do after the debriefings was take Kathryn to Venice.

He was interrupted by a beeping coming from tactical. He looked over, "Ayala, what have you got?"

"The long range sensors are detecting a transwarp conduit, sir."

He stood, "Harry, are you detecting any transmissions from the drone?"

Harry let out a deep breath, "A standard Borg proximity signal."

He called Kathryn to the bridge, and within moments, she and Tuvok were on their way to the cargo bay with a security team. Although his transceiver had been deactivated only days ago, his implants had adapted, and created a secondary transceiver that automatically signaled the Borg. It was time to tell him about the Borg.

Curious about the Borg, he said, "I wish to experience the hive mind."

"If you did that," the Captain told him, "you'd no longer be unique. The Borg would destroy your individuality."

"And that is undesirable?" he asked.

"Very," the Captain answered, "The Borg are the most destructive force we've ever encountered. They've assimilated billions of individuals against their will.

One turned to Seven, "You were assimilated."

"My link to the Collective was severed," she said.

"When you were in the Collective you assimilated others."

"Yes."

He turned back to the Captain, "You call the Borg destructive. Seven of Nine is not."

"That's because she's regained her individuality," the Captain said, "If the Borg had the chance, they'd take it away from her again. They'd assimilate everyone on Voyager. With your advanced technology, the Collective would become even more destructive. We have to prevent that from happening but we can't do it without you. We need your abilities to enhance our defenses, shields, weapons. Will you help us resist them?"

He turned to Seven again, "Seven of Nine, do you wish to rejoin the Collective?"

"Voyager is my Collective."

Moments later, a Borg sphere arrived, and One began enhancing Voyager's phasers and shields, but it was only a stop gap measure. He could not enhance Voyager's technology any further, and would have to interface with the Collective and destroy the sphere from within. Beaming himself over the sphere, he did just that, and accessed the navigational controls, and began taking the sphere into the nebula.

Unable to to withstand the nebula, the sphere exploded. One, however, had managed to erect a forcefield around himself, and survived, but the damage done to his body was extensive and required surgery.

Laying on the biobed, he spoked to Seven, "While I was linked to the Borg I could hear their thoughts, their objectives. They are aware of my existence. They will pursue me. "

"Irrelevant. They will fail."

The Doctor stepped in, "I need to get started."

"No," he said, his voice tinged with emotion, "I should not exist. I was an accident. A random convergence of technologies."

"You are unique," Seven answered.

"I was never meant to be. As long as I exist, you are in danger. All life on Voyager is in danger. All life on earth is in danger."

"We can talk about this later," the Doctor interrupted, but One initialized his personal forcefield and prevented the Doctor from being the procedure.

"Allow the Doctor to proceed. Lower the forcefield!" Seven demanded.

"His synapses are failing."

"You must comply."

"I will not."

"You must comply. Please," she said, "You are hurting me."

He looked at her, "You will adapt."

He went limp, and stared blankly at the ceiling, while Seven looked on horrified.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said.

Later that evening, the Captain came to see her.

"What will happen to him?" Seven asked.

"His body will be handed over to Temporal Investigations."

"And Voyager?"

"We honor him by going home, and ensuring he is remembered for what he did, and receives a proper burial."

Seven nodded, and stared at One's alcove as the Captain left.


	5. Chapter 4

The chime rang, and Kathryn called out for him to come in, although she was nowhere in sight when he entered. He noticed her jacket draped over a chair.

"Kathryn?" he asked.

"Make yourself comfortable, I'll be out in a moment," she answered.

He set the bottle of cider he brought down on the table and grabbed two glasses.

Kathryn came out dabbing a towel at a spot on her shirt, "I don't know if my replicator hates me, or just decided I've had enough coffee today."

"I hope it doesn't hate you," he said, pouring her a glass, "I'd really rather not have to go to the mess hall for dinner."

She chuckled, "Can't argue with you there. I'm pretty sure Neelix had something with leola root planned tonight."

She the glass, and took a sip, "I was thinking vegetarian lasagna. Sound good to you?"

"With extra mozzarella, yes, please."

"Great, let's see if the replicator will cooperate."

As luck would have it, the replicator obliged, and after setting a cloth down on the table Kathryn set the lasagna on the table and began dishing their plates.

"How it'd go today?" Chakotay asked.

"I spoke to Admiral Paris. Starfleet is a bit leery of us going through with the jump until they've been able to confirm our findings."

"So, we're staying put for now?"

"Hopefully no more than a few days, they've put Lieutenant Barclay in charge of confirming the holosimulations."

"What else?"

"All former Maquis have been pardoned. The war is essentially over, and as much as some of the brass may hate to admit the Maquis were right, the Federation needs some good news, so if the jump is approved, you will all be formally pardoned."

"What about the Maquis in prison?"

"That's a whole other can of worms. As I understand it, they'll be exonerated as well, but a few will have to finish their sentences because of crimes they committed while in the Maquis that weren't necessarily connected to the Maquis. Don't worry, your friend Sveta isn't one of them."

"Well, that's better than nothing, I guess. What did he have to say about One?"

"Since One was the amalgamation of 29th century technology, Temporal Investigations will take his body once we return. The Admiral is pretty well acquainted with the Director, so he's sure One will be cared for with the utmost respect."

Chakotay nodded, and took a sip of his cider, "How's Seven doing? I haven't seen her since she went to sickbay."

"I went to see her earlier, I think it's hitting her harder than she'd like to admit."

They sat in silence for a moment. Changing the subject, Kathryn said, "So, do you have anything in mind for what you want to do when we get back to earth?"

He smiled, "You first."

"Well, aside from going on a caramel brownie raid," she joked, "I was rather looking forward to real sail on Lake George."

"Oh, sounds nice. Am I invited?"

"Of course. Who else would I get to help with the sails?"

"Good point."

"Now, what about you?"

"I was thinking Venice."

"I'd better be invited," she said.

"Maybe," he teased.

She glared at him, though she knew he was joking.

"Well, I will need to someone to get lost with."

"Being lost in the Delta Quadrant hasn't been enough for you?"

"The Delta Quadrant's had it's moments, but in Venice, you can relax."

She smiled.

Later that evening, in his quarters, Chakotay played with the box in his hands. He'd had it since New Earth. He had planned to give it to her sometime after she'd adjusted to their life there, but then Voyager came back. Not that he wasn't grateful, but he would've been content to spend the rest of his life there with Kathryn, though he could do without the plasma storms. But maybe it was best this way. They had been the only two people there and had been getting closer. Eventually, he would've asked, and they would've become more. Voyager's return had nullified any chance of that happening unless Kathryn decided to "define parameters" on Voyager, or they got home.

At least this way, they wouldn't have to worry about the issue of contraception. It would've come up at some point. Besides, he knew Kathryn wanted children, or at least one, and he'd be lying if he said he hadn't imagined her with a little brown eyed, brown haired baby on her hip. Perhaps, that future was now within his grasp. He opened the box and looked at his future.


	6. Chapter 5

ONE WEEK LATER

"Well, Kathryn, Reg called in Geordi La Forge to review the calculations. They worked together on the holosimulation and were able to confirm your results," Admiral Paris said.

"That's great news," she replied.

He nodded, "Yes, you now have approval to go ahead with the jump."

"Thank you, sir."

"How's Tom? I understand he married recently."

"Yes, a couple months ago he married the chief engineer."

"Well, I look forward to meeting her."

News traveled quickly that Voyager would be going through with the slipstream jump. Throughout the ship there was a sense of excitement, and even some apprehension. Naomi Wildman was nervous about meeting her father. The feeling was mutual, her father was nervous about meeting her. Samantha had sent him regular updates on Naomi after the success of the Pathfinder Project, and the father and daughter had even begun writing letters to each other. His first letter had explained how dumbfounded he had been to find out that not only was his wife alive, but they also now had a daughter. He went on to explain that after the initial shock, and a few congratulations, that he'd nearly bounced off the walls of the promenade at Deep Space 9. Naomi would tell him about her adventures with Flotter and Trevis, school, the quirks of the Doctor's, and the sometimes-not-so-delightful "edible" creations of Neelix's. He'd admitted to Samantha in a letter that he felt jealous of Neelix's being there from the start. He could hardly hold that against him, however, and was just happy that his family was alive.

Elsewhere on the ship, B'Elanna was feeling a bit apprehensive herself. When they'd first started receiving letters from home she hadn't expected to get any, but lo and behold, she'd actually received on from her father expressing the mutual relief from himself and her mother that their daughter was alive. She hadn't been sure how to respond at first, considering how estranged they were, but she responded nonetheless. Having thought he'd lost his daughter, he'd begun reevaluating the choices he made when he was younger. Now that he knew she was alive, he needed to bridge the gaps he'd left behind when she was a little girl. Writing letters had a been a good way to start, but now, they'd be home before long. He'd want to meet her, and Tom for that matter. The problem was she didn't know if she wanted to see him just yet; she didn't know if she could forgive him quite yet for leaving when she was little. But as she had pointed out to Tom about his own father, Tom likewise pointed out to her that her father was reaching out also. That wasn't the only thing she was feeling apprehensive about, however. She'd also have to meet her in-laws now, too.

Harry eagerly awaited seeing his parents, and Libby again. Tuvok maintained that he was neither anxious, nor excited to be reunited with his family, but Kathryn knew he was a pleased with the prospect. Personally, she was excited to see her mother and sister again. She was especially happy that she'd be able to have real caramel brownies again, not to mention coffee. She was curious what Phoebe had been up to the last four years. When Voyager left Deep Space 9, she'd been seeing someone. 'What was his name? Corey? Corbin? Cornelius? Colby?' She supposed it probably didn't matter. Phoebe hadn't mentioned anything about seeing anyone in her letters, so Co-whatever-his-name-was must not have worked out. So long as Phoebe didn't immediately latch onto Chakotay when they got back.

Kathryn walked onto the bridge and Chakotay turned to her, "Everything's ready to go, Captain."

"All right, then," she said with a smile, and comming Tuvok and Harry in the shuttle, gave the order, "Engage."


	7. Chapter 6

Voyager exited the slipstream.

"Mr. Paris, location?" the Captain asked.

He let out a chuckle and turned around in his seat, "Three lightyears from Deep Space 9, Captain."

A wide smile spread across her face and to her left her left she was met an equally wide smile. "Congratulations, everyone," she said, "we're home."

Whoops and cheers flew around the bridge. When it she spoke again, "Lieutenant, set a course for Deep Space 9, warp six, and send a message ahead telling them we are en route. Engage."

A few minutes later she stood in her ready room looking out the window. She turned around when she heard the door open.

Chakotay walked in with a grin on his face, "Well, Kathryn, you did it."

"Yeah," she chuckled, "do me a favor and pinch me."

He knew she was kidding, but he couldn't resist and pinched her anyway. "Ouch!" she yelped, "I was kidding!"

He shrugged, "I know. But how often does one's Captain tell him to pinch her?"

She rolled her eyes and looked post him as Neelix entered from the corridor.

"As requested, Captain," he said holding out a bottle of champagne.

"Excellent," she said, "but I wanted to ask you about organizing a shindig for the crew in the holodeck."

He thought for a moment, "Hmm, Tom was saying something about the bowling alley program being a lot of fun. Does that sound good?"

Kathryn's eyes twinkled, "Perfect. I haven't been bowling since before we got stranded, and it shouldn't require much prep."

Later that evening she walked into the holodeck and was greeted with a 20th century bowling alley. Music played loudly, bowling balls collided with pins followed by cheers, and orders of pizza, chicken wings, and beer were announced over the din.

She walked up to the shoe counter and requested a pair of size seven and a half shoes. Appropriately, they were black and red.

One team was made up of Tom, Harry, B'Elanna, Seven, and Naomi. She chuckled as Naomi hefted a ball over to the lane and rolled it down the lane. Seven offered the girl a lighter ball, and gave her a couple of pointers, resulting in the girl getting a spare and subsequently squealing in delight.

Harry chuckled and shook his head, "By the time she's done with Naomi, Naomi will be able to beat me."

"How many games has Seven played?" B'Elanna asked.

"All of two," Harry answered, "and already she's teaching Naomi how to get spares."

B'Elanna smirked, "Well, teaching isn't exactly a frivolous human endeavor."

Tom laughed, "Yeah, who knows? Those skills may come in handy one day. She might be able to bowl drones down."

Kathryn snickered, "I'm not going to lie. I would pay to see that."

"So would I," Chakotay commented as he approached with Sam.

"Do you have a team yet, Captain?" she asked, "We're looking for one more person. Parsons accidentally dropped his ball on his foot and the Doctor had to take him to Sickbay."

"Ouch, knowing Parsons he probably had a sixteen pound ball, too," she said.

Chakotay nodded.

"Well, I'm free, lead the way."

Sam added Kathryn to the scoreboard. "Who's winning?" Kathryn asked.

"Parsons was, until he quite literally dropped the ball," Chakotay answered.

Sam took her turn, knocking five pins down at first, then another three. As Kathryn passed her she leaned in and whispered, "He's never seen you play, right?"

"Never."

Sam giggled, "I can't wait to see this, then."

Chakotay watched them curiously, 'Why do I get the feeling they're talking about me?'

Sam sat down across from him with a smile on her face. He turned to watch Kathryn take her turn. She expertly sent the ball curving down the lane and got a strike. His jaw dropped, and he looked at Sam who was now laughing. "You knew she was going to do that?" he asked.

Sam nodded, "She played Captain Sisko and Gres before we left Deep Space 9. Creamed both of them."

"Good grief, Kathryn," he said, "you're a bowling and pool shark! What other secrets do you have?"

She shrugged, "I went swimming on Mars without my father's permission when I was a teenager."

"Somehow, I get the feeling that only scratches the surface."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this fun chapter. Please review.


	8. Chapter 7

A couple of days later they reached Deep Space 9. They were warmly welcomed, however to the Doctor's chagrin, the crew was placed in mandatory quarantine, despite his insistence that were in good health, and showed no signs of infectious disease. But Starfleet didn't want to take the chance, so Dr. Bashir quickly got to work. Naturally, Kathryn insisted that the rest of the crew be cleared before herself. Chakotay smirked. If she was going to wait, he was going to wait with her.

Rather than ringing the chime, he knocked on her door. She opened the door, "Chakotay? Aren't you going to go get cleared?"

"Eh, I heard the Captain was going to wait until everyone else got cleared. I figured she'd like someone to pass the time with," he pulled a bottle of Antarian Cider from behind his back. She smiled, "I was going to work on some reports, but this sounds much better, come on in."

He shook his head, "I was actually thinking a sail on Lake George."

"Even better."

As they walked down the dock, Chakotay pointed to the sailboat. "Looks like you made some changes," Kathryn said.

He chuckled, "Not really, I just gave myself my own boat."

She looked at the boat and read the name: NAYELI KATHRYN.

Chakotay climbed onto the boat and set the bottle down. Kathryn looked at him, "What does Nayeli mean, Chakotay?"

He smiled at her and held his hand out to help her onboard, but didn't answer. She took it, and once onboard he led her down below. She was greeted by the familiar sight of one of their weekly dinners. In the center of the table was a vase with a lone peace rose, and waiting for them at their seats were steaming plates of spaghetti with garlic bread on the side.

They sat and began eating, all the while talking about things they hoped to do once they got home. They laughed at how eager Tom was to introduce Harry to the world of paintball. Real paintball, with paintball guns, camo, and the pain that inevitably came when newbies accidentally shot each other in the family jewels while they tried to get used to their new weapons. Kathryn certainly didn't wish that last part on poor Harry, but he sure was in for a rude awakening compared to holo-paintball.

When they finished eating, Chakotay got up and brought back two slices of cheesecake. Kathryn ate hers slowly, savoring every bite until she was too stuffed to eat anymore. She played with the crumbs on her play, and Chakotay watched, "What are you thinking about?"

She looked up, "You know, we've spent the last four years trying to get home, and every time we found a possible way, the rug would be pulled out from under our feet, I'm not sure I really expected it to happen. But now, it's real, and all I can think is that this is probably the last dinner we'll have together on Voyager."

He reached over the table and grabbed her hand, "Maybe on Voyager, but I'd like the dinners to continue."

She smiled, "So would I."

With their dinners finished, they moved to the couch and sipped on their ciders. Chakotay wrapped his arm around Kathryn's shoulders, "Looks like we'll be able to go to Venice after all. We should definitely plan to have dinner there."

"Have dinner, get lost, sounds like heaven," Kathryn replied, "I can't wait."

Chakotay placed a kiss on her forehead. They stayed there another half hour before they dozed off.

A couple of hours later Chakotay woke to the sound of Dr. Bashir's voice telling him he was ready to see the Captain and Commander. He answered, telling him that they would be there shortly.

Still on the couch, he looked down to see Kathryn lying next to him with her head on his chest, still sleeping soundly. This was something he could definitely get used to.


End file.
